CCH INTEGRATES WITH MICROSOFT DYNAMICS: CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and provider of tax and compliance software, has launched seamless integration between its CertiTax product and Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning solutions.CertiTax, a Web-based suite for sales and use tax calculation spanning 8,000 jurisdictions, contains a new, quicker and easier-to-use interface with Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly branded as Great Plains), AX (Axapta), SL (Solomon) and NAV (Navision). "The new CertiTax integration can save hours of work by allowing an accounting department to manage sales tax for all its customers and products with a single tax schedule," said CCH sales and use tax product manager Bruce Krumlauf, in a statement.
EPICOR COMPLETES RESTATEMENT; LOWERS '06 PROFIT FORECAST: Epicor Software Corp., a manufacturer of business software for midsized companies, announced that it has completed a financial restatement for 2003 and 2004, and that it will lower its profit expectations for 2006.
Epicor launched a review of its revenue-recognition policies in regard to determining vendor-specific objective evidence of fair value for software license agreements - specifically, the recognition and allocation of revenues from certain licensing and maintenance agreements. Following the accounting review, Epicor and its audit committee decided to make a change to the revenue classifications. "These changes to our revenue-recognition policy have not resulted in the loss of any previously reported revenue, but rather, only impact the timing of when revenue for prior and future periods is reported," said executive vice president and chief financial officer Michael Piraino, in a statement. The changes also resulted in restatements for interim quarterly periods in the 2004 fiscal year through Sept. 30, 2005. As previously announced, with the restatement complete, Epicor said that it expects its revenues for 2006 to be in the range of $372 to $377 million.
Separately, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said that it has completed a $200 million senior secured bank facility, consisting of a $100 million term loan and a $100 million revolving credit facility.
SAGE PAYROLL SERVICES NOW AVAILABLE: Sage Software has made available Sage Payroll Services for its Sage Accpac ERP business management system.
Sage Payroll Services provides outsourced, online U.S. payroll for the small and midsized business market. Sage said that the service works with any accounting system, and offers immediate integration with Sage Abra HRMS, Peachtree by Sage, Sage MAS 90 ERP and MAS 200 ERP, and Sage Accpac ERP Versions 5.3 and 5.4.
The new integration makes outsourced payroll for Sage Accpac available via Sage Payroll Services, in addition to the existing on-premises payroll module for Sage Accpac ERP. For additional information and pricing on Sage Payroll Services for Sage Accpac ERP clients, visit www.sagepayservices.com.
SURVEY FINDS EXECS WANT GRANULAR INFO ON IT COSTS: Hundreds of senior executives said that they would appreciate a more granular understanding of information technology costs, according to a survey released by business services company Managed Objects.
Of the more than 230 U.S. senior corporate executives and IT managers responding to the poll, some 90 percent said that knowing the details of IT costs would be helpful, allowing for improved decision-making for IT cost management and a better alignment of IT spending to corporate goals.
According to the survey, business leaders are also seeking mechanisms to promote better communication and understanding among finance and IT managers. As a result, more than 60 percent of C-suite executives surveyed cited the ability to deliver executive and management cost-monitoring dashboards for IT and business managers as the key feature for better measurement of IT application costs.
The survey showed a strong correlation between the frequency of formal meetings among finance and IT leaders and the likelihood that both groups were to describe their IT cost control measures as effective. In organizations where meetings were held weekly, 68 percent said that classified cost controls were effective, while only 18 percent said the same in organizations where meetings were held quarterly or less often.
